Youth Worship

~ by Jessica Thompson

This past weekend I had the great privilege of leading worship at Glengate’s annual youth retreat. Every year, it ceases to amaze me how God uses worship to speak to the young people who attend the retreat. God continues to show me the power that music has to penetrate our hearts and create a forum to speak freely and honestly to him.

Together with the other members of the worship team, we chose a collection of songs that represented traditional youth favourites, songs that reflected the messages of the weekend and a couple brand new ones that we hoped would become the songs our youth would quietly hum and sing on the car ride home; a chant they would use as a reminder of the weekend. Jordan McCourt and I prayed over these songs and decided on one named “We Won’t Be Shaken” by Building 429. The chorus goes as follows:

“Whatever will come our way

Through fire or pouring rain

We won’t be shaken, we won’t be shaken

Whatever tomorrow brings

Together we’ll rise and sing

We won’t be shaken, no we won’t be shaken”

During our third and final worship set, this song came on and I remember stepping back from the microphone, closing my eyes and hearing the vibrant, bold voices of the many youth in the room singing in unison “We won’t be shaken, no we won’t be shaken!” This song that God had placed on the hearts of the worship team had become this beautiful testimony of the weekend. It served as a reminder that this world is not our home and that through the many trials that we will face in life, we must stand firm, refusing to be shaken. In that moment, we were united as one entity, praising our heavenly father and committing to standing firm. It was both amazing and humbling.

Music may come in all styles, but worship transcends them all. I know that at that moment, God was looking down at his children, listening to them sing as one, and was very pleased. And that moment will forever serve as a reminder for me to remember that whatever I am going through, God is bigger. When difficult times arise, I am not alone. I will rise and sing with my brothers and sisters “we won’t be shaken” and remember the love and power of my God Almighty.